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1980s Sports Drama Movies

Public list by WPS with 44 movies or TV shows/series

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44 movies found (page 1/2):

Rocky IV(1985)

PG-13
| 1h 31min | Drama
3.5/5 (with 1,868 votes)

Rocky Balboa proudly holds the world heavyweight boxing championship, but a new challenger has stepped forward: Drago, a six-foot-four, 261-pound fighter who has the backing of the Soviet Union.

Rocky III(1982)

PG
| 1h 39min | Drama
3.5/5 (with 1,830 votes)

Now the world champion, Rocky Balboa is living in luxury and only fighting opponents who pose no threat to him in the ring, until Clubber Lang challenges him to a bout. After taking a pounding from Lang, the humbled champ turns to former bitter rival Apollo Creed for a rematch with Lang.

The Karate Kid(1984)

PG
| 2h 6min | Action, Kids & Family, Drama
3.6/5 (with 1,780 votes)

Daniel, a fatherless teenager, arrives in Los Angeles and becomes the object of bullying by a gang of karate students when he strikes up a relationship with Ali, the gang leader’s ex-girlfriend, so Daniel asks Miyagi, a master of martial arts, to help him learn karate.

Raging Bull(1980)

R
| 2h 9min | Drama, History
4.0/5 (with 1,896 votes)

The life of boxer Jake LaMotta, whose violence and temper that led him to the top in the ring destroyed his life outside of it.

The Natural(1984)

PG
| 2h 17min | Drama
3.5/5 (with 254 votes)

An unknown middle-aged batter named Roy Hobbs with a mysterious past appears out of nowhere to take a losing 1930s baseball team to the top of the league.

Over the Top(1987)

PG
| 1h 33min | Action, Drama
3.2/5 (with 714 votes)

Sylvester Stallone stars as hard-luck big-rig trucker Lincoln Hawk and takes us under the glaring Las Vegas lights for all the boisterous action of the World Armwrestling Championship. Relying on wits and willpower, Hawk tries to rebuild his life by capturing the first-place prize money, and the love of the son he abandoned years earlier into the keeping of his rich, ruthless father-in-law.

Field of Dreams(1989)

PG
| 1h 47min | Drama, Fantasy, Comedy
3.6/5 (with 615 votes)

Ray Kinsella is an Iowa farmer who hears a mysterious voice telling him to turn his cornfield into a baseball diamond. He does, but the voice's directions don't stop -- even after the spirits of deceased ballplayers turn up to play.

Hoosiers(1986)

PG
| 1h 54min | Drama, Kids & Family
3.6/5 (with 206 votes)

High school basketball is king in small-town Indiana, and the 1954 Hickory Huskers are all hope and no talent. But their new coach -- abrasive, unlikable Norman Dale -- whips the team into shape ... while also inciting controversy.

Vision Quest(1985)

R
| 1h 45min | Drama, Romance / Love
3.2/5 (with 53 votes)

After deciding he needs to do something meaningful with his life, high school wrestler Louden Swain sets out on a mission to drop weight and challenge the area's undefeated champion, which creates problems with his teammates and health. Matters are complicated further when Louden's father takes in an attractive female drifter who's on her way to San Francisco.

American Flyers(1985)

PG-13
| 1h 53min | Drama
3.1/5 (with 44 votes)

When Dr. Marcus Sommers realizes that he and his troubled, estranged brother David may be prone a fatal brain disease that runs in their family, he decides to make peace with his sibling, and invites him on a trip to the Rockies. There, the brothers bond over their shared enthusiasm for cycling and decide to enter a grueling bike race through the mountains. However, Marcus' health soon begins to fail, and David must compete without his brother at his side.

Youngblood(1986)

R
| 1h 50min | Drama, Romance / Love
3.1/5 (with 93 votes)

A skilled young hockey prospect hoping to attract the attention of professional scouts is pressured to show that he can fight if challenged during his stay in a Canadian minor hockey town. His on-ice activities are complicated by his relationship with the coach's daughter.

All the Right Moves(1983)

R
| 1h 31min | Romance / Love, Drama
2.9/5 (with 108 votes)

Sensitive study of a headstrong high school football star who dreams of getting out of his small Western Pennsylvania steel town with a football scholarship. His equally ambitious coach aims at a college position, resulting in a clash which could crush the player's dreams.

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Eight Men Out(1988)

PG
| 1h 59min | Drama, History
3.5/5 (with 99 votes)

A dramatization of the Black Sox scandal when the underpaid Chicago White Sox accepted bribes to deliberately lose the 1919 World Series.

Stealing Home(1988)

PG-13
| 1h 38min | Drama, Romance / Love
3.2/5 (with 22 votes)

Billy Wyatt (Harmon), a former high school and minor-league baseball baseball player receives a telephone call from his mother revealing that his former child-sitter, and later in his teens, his first love, Katie Chandler (Foster), has died. Wyatt returns home to deal with this tragedy reminescing over his childhood growing up with his father, Katie and best friend Alan Appleby.

Champions(1984)

1h 46min | Drama
3.4/5 (with 6 votes)

The true story of jockey Bob Champion who overcame cancer to win the 1981 Grand National.

Triumph of the Spirit(1989)

R
| 2h | Drama, War
3.4/5 (with 22 votes)

Fact based story about a former Greek Olympic boxer who was taken as a prisoner during World war II and placed in the Auschwitz prison camp. There he was permitted to survive as long as he fought for the amusement of his captors. His father and brother were also held as insurance that he would continue to fight.

Homeboy(1988)

R
| 1h 56min | Drama
2.5/5 (with 18 votes)

Johnny Walker is a cowboy and a boxer. He is very shy and a bit of a fool. He is in love with Ruby, but he cannot tell her. He is also a bit old to keep on boxing, but its the only thing he does well.

Phar Lap(1983)

PG
| 1h 47min | Drama, Kids & Family, History
3.7/5 (with 11 votes)

Phar Lap, the big bold chestnut reigned as the king of the turf in the depression that gripped Australia of the 1930s. From his humble beginnings the New Zealand bred horse raced on to become the hero of a nation.

The Boy in Blue(1986)

R
| 1h 40min | Drama
2.3/5 (with 12 votes)

Ned Hanlan was Canada's most successful sculling champion at the turn of the 20th century. This dramatization of his life begins in his youth, when the wild young man is informally adopted by a gambler who promotes Ned on the sculling circuit, betting on the boy's rowing skills solely to make money off him. Later, a ruthless businessman named Knox takes over Ned's career, but when Ned realizes how dishonest Knox is, he finds another manager. Walter is an inventor and the first honest man Ned has dealt with in his career and, under Walter's guidance, Ned rises to great success in the sculling world.

Everybody's All-American(1988)

2.8/5 (with 18 votes)

Louisiana football star Gavin Grey had it all. He was an All-American champion who married his high-school sweetheart, homecoming queen Babs Rogers, and who was a hero to his hometown. Yet after a failed professional career, Gavin realizes that fame and success have passed him by and that he no longer is the hero everyone keeps reminding him he should still be. His dissatisfaction with his life leads to strains in his marriage, and Gavin begins to wonder who he is, if he's not a hero anymore.

American Anthem(1986)

PG-13
| 1h 42min | Romance / Love
2.5/5 (with 7 votes)

Steve is a talented gymnast who has given up competition and is working at his father's bike shop. Julie is the new girl at his old gym, who has moved to town to train with their powerful coach. Inspired by Julie, Steve resumes training. While dealing with the conflicts in their personal lives and the stress of training, they prepare for the US Olympic Trials.

Windrider(1986)

R
| 1h 32min | Drama, Romance / Love
2.5/5 (with 6 votes)

A rock star falls for a rich man's son who competitively board-sails the coast of Western Australia.

Split Decisions(1988)

R
| 1h 35min | Drama
2.6/5 (with 9 votes)

When a boxer is killed because he wouldn't take a dive, his brother tries to find a way to avenge him even if only symbolically.

Penitentiary II(1982)

R
| 1h 48min | Action, Thriller
2.1/5 (with 5 votes)

An ex-con, on parole and trying to straighten his life out, decides to resume his boxing career when one of his prison enemies escapes and kills his girlfriend.

The Cyclist(1989)

1h 35min | Drama
3.3/5 (with 11 votes)

The wife of Nasim, an Afghan immigrant in Iran, is gravely ill. He needs money to pay for her care, but his day labor digging wells does not pay enough. A friend connects Nasim to a two-bit promoter who sells tickets to watch Nasim ride a bicycle continuously for a week. The promoter brings in sick and aged spectators, haranguing them to find hope in Nasim's strength. Aided by his son, who feeds him as he rides, Nasim grinds out the days and shivering nights. Local officials believe this may be a plot and Nasim may be a spy; they try to sabotage him as do those who bet he won't finish the week. Will desperation alone get Nasim the money? Is any triumph an illusion?

Silver Dream Racer(1980)

1h 51min | Drama, Action
2.9/5 (with 4 votes)

David Essex stars as Nick Freeman, a motorcycle racer who, following the death of his brother, inherits a revolutionary prototype motorcycle, and is determined to race it at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

The Bear(1984)

1h 50min
3.0/5 (with 1 vote)

Biopic about the great college football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant of the University of Alabama.

Streets of Gold(1986)

1h 35min | Drama
3.1/5 (with 4 votes)

Alek is an immigrant from the Soviet Union who was a talented boxer in his day, but he was not allowed on the Soviet national team because he was a Jew. Depressed and discouraged, he meets two young amateur boxers. As their coach, he trains them for glory.

Amazing Grace and Chuck(1987)

PG
| 1h 54min | Drama
2.7/5 (with 6 votes)

Chuck Murdock, a 12-year-old boy from Montana and son of a military jet pilot, becomes anxious after seeing a Minuteman missile on a school field trip. He protests the existence of nuclear weapons by refusing to play baseball, which results in the forfeit of a Little League game by his team. "Amazing Grace" Smith, a fictional Boston Celtics player, played by NBA star Alex English, decides to join the boy in his protest by resigning from professional basketball. This gives it nationwide coverage, inspiring more pro athletes to join the protest against nuclear weapons. The film reaches a climax when the President of the United States personally meets with Chuck, admiring his resolve but at the same time explaining the practical difficulties of disarmament. Sinister forces, meanwhile, threaten the lives of Amazing Grace and his agent, Lynn.

Tiger Town(1983)

G
| 1h 13min | Drama, Kids & Family, TV Movie
3.1/5 (with 4 votes)

Alex believed in his baseball hero Billy Young. When Billy's performance struggled, Alex's friends began to doubt Alex; and Billy began to doubt himself. Alex wants to prove to his friends, to Billy, and to himself that believing in someone can make the difference.

Directed by Alan Shapiro - With Roy Scheider, Lindsay Barr, Dave Bokas, Chris Bremer, Bethany Carpenter, Katie Delozier, ...
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